It says the Independent National Electoral Commission had counted some 84 percent of the ballots in the FIRST round of the vote as of today (THURSDAY).

Former presidents RAJOELINA and RAVALOMANANA are heading for the SECOND round after beating outgoing President HERY RAJAONARIMAMPIANINA, who sits on the THIRD position out of 36 candidates – with EIGHT percent of the vote.

AFP news agency quotes MALAGASY political expert MAHERY LANTO MANANDAFY as saying given the results of the Electoral Commission, the SECOND round is now unavoidable.

The agency says the MALAGASY electoral regulations require the TWO frontrunners to go for a run-off by 19 DECEMBER, if neither manages more than 50 percent in the FIRST round.

However, it quotes yet another political commentator as saying anything is still possible if Mr RAJOELINA and RAVALOMANANA lodge a complaint in the courts.

TOAVINA RALAMBOMAHAY says everyone hopes to be elected in the FIRST round because a SECOND round ballot brings huge campaign costs.

AFP says MADAGASCAR is ONE of the poorest countries in the world, according to World Bank data, with almost FOUR in every FIVE people in the INDIAN Ocean island country living in grinding poverty.

Nevertheless, it says the candidates spent huge sums on flashy campaign rallies, helicopters and giveaways like free T-shirts for supporters; and the THREE leading contenders have accused electoral authorities of fraud and malpractice.

However, the news report does not give any further details about the alleged deception and misconduct by the voting managers.

Meanwhile, the EUROPEAN UNION Observer Mission reportedly has issued a statement saying while candidates committed breaches ahead of the SEVEN NOVEMBER election, the voting process was well organised largely.

Electoral Commission Vice President THIERRY RAKOTONARIVO has dismissed the alleged mismanagement of the process, saying all the results they have published are verifiable.

Both former presidents RAJOELINA and RAVALOMANANA were banned from contesting the last election in 2013 under international pressure, to avoid a repeat of political violence that engulfed MADAGASCAR in 2009.

AFP says Mr RAVALOMANANA, 68, and Mr RAJOELINA, 44, are bitter rivals who are facing each other for the FIRST time at the polls.

It says Mr RAVALOMANANA ruled from 2002 to 2009 until he was ousted in a military-backed coup that installed Mr RAJOELINA, who remained in power up to 2014.

Outgoing President RAJAONARIMAMPIANINA took over until earlier this year when he tried to change the electoral laws, a move that backfired and sparked about THREE months of often-violent demonstrations in the capital, ANTANANARIVO.

AFP says the demonstrators forced him to accept what they termed a consensus government to organise the election in the former FRENCH colony, which is burdened by a long history of coups and unrest.

AFRICAN UNION observers have called on the THREE leading presidential candidates in MADAGASCAR to show restraint and respect the law./Sabanews/cam

The concept further promotes high and sustained production levels, while at the same time protecting the environment.

Zambians adopting conervation farming (Pic. ZNBC)

President LUNGA says shifting weather patterns have seen the northern HALF of the SADC country receive favourable downpours, while the south is experiencing erratic rains.

ZNBC News says he has launched the 2018 to 2019 Planting Season in the MWINILUNGA District of the NORTH WESTERN Province, pledging to accelerate development of the agriculture sector in area.

It quotes the Head of State as saying the region is blessed with rich soils as well as abundant rains, and the government wants to exploit the situation for the benefit of the whole country.

President LUNGA says his vision is to transform the NORTH WESTERN Province into the national food basket, calling on residents to use the good natural resources and the favourable rainfall patterns to increase agricultural production.

He also says traditional leaders should embrace both domestic and foreign investors who may be interested in funding agricultural production.

Comments by the ZAMBIAN Leader come amid reports saying most of the SADC Region is likely to receive normal to below-normal rains between OCTOBER and DECEMBER, with above normal rainfall over the northern HALF of TANZANIA.

The SADC Secretariat says JANUARY to MARCH 2019 period will witness normal to below normal rainfall for most of the 16-member economic bloc.

Mean temperatures will be normal to above normal for most of the 2018 to 2019 season over the entire SADC Region, except for North-eastern DRC, North-western TANZANIA, Southern MOZAMBIQUE.

Other SADC countries likely to have above normal temperatures are ESWATINI, Central and Eastern SOUTH AFRICA, Northern LESOTHO, South-west of BOTSWANA, Southern NAMIBIA, and North-western SOUTH AFRICA.

Climate Change, resulting from the warming up of the globe due to the depletion of the ozone layer (a thin blanket protecting the EARTH from the direct rays of the SUN) through gaseous pollution, has not spared Sub-SAHARAN AFRICA./Sabanews/cam

HARARE – Military officials in ZIMBABWE have dismissed reports claiming their soldiers killed civilians during violent protests that nearly shut down the capital, HARARE, on ONE AUGUST.

The Tactical Commander of the National Reaction Force, who is also the Presidential Guard Commander, says he was in charge of the military operations to reinforce the police on the fateful day.

Brigadier-General ANSELEM SANYATWE has told the Commission of Inquiry into the disturbances his troops only fired warning shots into the air, not at the rioting crowds scattered around the city.

He says the videos circulating in the media, showing a soldier kneeling on the ground and appearing to be firing at the rioters, are not proof that the military killed anyone on the day.

Brigadier-General SANYATWE emphasises the military details he deployed in THREE sectors in HARARE did not open fire to kill but to disperse the crowd.

He says the soldiers were under the command of high ranking and experienced officers who are aware of the rules of engagement, either during civil unrests or in real combat.

Moreover, given the fact that the soldiers were carrying AK-47 assault rifles, people would have witnessed serious carnage if anyone of them had fired into the crowds – because the gun has serious impact.

Violent demonstrators set Harare on fire (Pic. Agencies)

The army also says it cannot rule out the possibility that the SIX people who were killed in the ONE AUGUST post-election violence could be victims of a militant group in the MDC ALLIANCE.

Brigadier-General SANYATWE says the group, known as the VANGUARD, is violent and obviously includes trained former members of the national army and police, who are able to use firearms.

He says what also further shows his soldiers killed no one during the demonstrations is that a number of journalists decided to report the events while taking cover behind the military lines.

Therefore, the reporters should have been able to capture people falling from AK-47 bullets and bodies lying in pools of blood if the troopers really opened fire into the crowds.

Brigadier-General SANYATWE says he does not give much consideration to the video clip that has gone viral on social media, because no civilian has the guts to film such military operations.

The Commission, set up to probe the cause of the violence and whether or not the reaction by the military was proper, has also head the testimony of Defence Forces Commander General PHILLIP VALERIO SIBANDA.

He has accused the MDC ALLIANCE of preaching violence before, during, and after the 30 JULY General Elections each time they addressed their rallies, which led to the ONE AUGUST tragedies.

General SIBANDA says the opposition leader, NELSON CHAMISA, and his colleagues had planned to plunge the country into bloody clashes if they lost the polls; and when they realised they were losing, they sent riotous youths into the streets of HARARE on the day.

He says the police had to call for help from the military after the violent crowds, who were now burning and looting in a bid to shut down the city, had overpowered the law-enforcement agents.

General SIBANDA says members of the National Reaction Force had strict orders never to shoot at the demonstrators, and they never killed anyone.

He has also emphasised if the circulating video was authentic, the soldier shown kneeling and seemingly shooting into the crowd would have killed quite a huge number of people with such rapid fire.

General SIBANDA says anyone, members of the public, observers who witnessed the ballots, as well as journalists who covered them, who have evidence of his soldiers’ killing people, should come forward with it.

Despite having issued a joint media statement with the police to appeal to people with such evidence either vehicle number plates, names of soldiers, or anything, to furnish them with such information, no one has brought anything.

General SIBANDA also says he is disappointed that none of the many foreign observers, foreign journalists, and embassies, who witnessed the elections, ever denounced the pre-election opposition threats of violence.

Only THREE groups visited him, surprisingly to find out if the military would accept MDC ALLIANCE Leader CHAMISA if he won the presidential poll; to which he answered soldiers would abide by the Constitution.

General SIBANDA says the authorities are determined to find out the real architects of the violence as well as the killers of the SIX people, and the culprits will definitely be in police custody eventually.

The 2018 Post-Election Violence Commission of Inquiry in ZIMBABWE has interviewed a cross-section of people from mid-OCTOBER, but it is not likely to conclude its work soon – given the bulk of evidence the team has to consider before reporting./Sabanews/cam

RUSAPE – At least 47 people have been killed and 70 others injured after TWO buses collided head-on just outside the Eastern ZIMBABWE town of RUSAPE.

Media reports say TWO of the passengers killed in the crash, which occurred towards sunset, were small children.

They say the horrific accident took place at the 166th-kilometre peg along the HARARE-MUTARE Road, THREE kilometres after RUSAPE towards the capital city.

THE HERALD has named the involved buses as BOLT CUTTER and SMART EXPRESS, whose driver was overtaking a haulage truck when he smashed into the oncoming BOLT CUTTER vehicle.

It quotes National Police Spokesperson Assistant Commissioner PAUL NYATHI as saying the number of the dead is likely to rise, as the authorities have still been attending the accident.

MAKONI District Administrator DARLINGTON MUSEKA, who also chairs the District Civil Protection Unit, says RUSAPE General Hospital mortuary has been overwhelmed.

The State-owned daily also quotes him as saying they have had to engage NYARADZO Funeral Services for assistance.

RUSAPE District Medical Officer DR TENDAI NYAFESU says their mortuary is meant for 16 bodies, although they can stretch it to take up to as many as 36.

THE HERALD further quotes ONE official coordinating transport for the injured and the dead to hospital as saying the district is in shock over the horror accident.

The man, who the paper only names as Mr MUSEKA, says the incident is not something easy to accept.

THE HERALD crew of TENDAI MUGABE, SAMUEL KADUNGURE, and LOVEMORE KADZURA say they found the highway impassable when they arrived, with dead bodies, the injured, and their luggage scattered all over.

While other road users and passers-by helped carry the injured to hospital, the driver and conductor from the SMART EXPRESS Bus reportedly fled the scene.

The horror accident in Eastern ZIMBABWE comes as the SADC country approaches the festive and rainy seasons, with almost all its roads in both urban and rural areas are damaged dangerously./Sabanews/cam

National news agency, SNA says the Captain of ONE of the boats has since appeared in Court, charged with illegal fishing in the waters of the INDIAN Ocean island country.

It says another is still under police investigations, according to the SEYCHELLES People’s Defence Forces; which says local fishermen FIRST spotted the vessels around 90 nautical miles south-east of MAHE, the main island.

The Coast Guard Patrol Ship TOPAZ and Patrol Boat LA FLECHE intercepted the TWO boats, arrested and handed them over to the Fisheries Authority and the police at Port VICTORIA, the capital.

The SEYCHELLES Fisheries Authority says the Captain who has appeared in court will remain in custody until 19 NOVEMBER; and the authorities are still probing to see if there is enough evidence for a case against the other suspect.

It says it is assisting the police in gathering evidence as to the species and amount of fish found on board the TWO vessels.

SNA says if confirmed, the case will be the THIRD incident of illegal fishing by SRI LANKAN-flagged vessels this year in the waters of SEYCHELLES.

The news agency also quotes the SRI LANKAN channel, ITN News, as saying a group of SRI LANKAN fishermen has been slapped with a fine of ONE-POINT-FIVE-MILLION US dollars for violating SEYCHELLES maritime borders.

It says the media house quotes the SRI LANKAN High Commissioner to SEYCHELLES as saying the Courts have also confiscated their boats, but the crimes continue.

The Coast Guard Patrol Ship ANDROMACHE spotted another SRI LANKAN-flagged vessel during a routine patrol in JULY north-west of the main island of MAHE.

A Coast Guard team that subsequently boarded the suspected boat carried out an inspection and discovered evidence of illegal fishing in the SADC nation.

Authorities have difficulties with the vast Exclusive Economic Zone of ONE-POINT-FOUR-MILLION square kilometres, which is hard to monitor for illegal fishing, adding pressure on the available resources.

Fishing is the SECOND top contributor to the economy of SEYCHELLES, a group of 115 islands in the western INDIAN Ocean./Sabanews/cam

MCHINJI – The YOUTH NETWORKING AND COUNSELLING of MALAWI has accused parents in the central district of MCHINJI of promoting early child marriages and unplanned pregnancies.

The girl child needs protection so as to complete school (Pic. Agencies)

The group has launched a campaign after realising a number of children are failing to access information on their Sexual Reproductive Health Rights due to parental resistance.

The program, with the theme: Marriage No Child’s Play, aims to bring awareness among children, especially girls, and their parents against such attitudes.

Project Officer TIONGE BANDA says the bulk of parents in MCHINJI are holding their kids from schemes that help prevent practices likely to lead to early and unplanned pregnancies.

He has addressed delegates to a meeting held at MKUMBA Primary School Grounds in Traditional Authority ZULU, saying the same parents are also victims of some outdated cultural and religious beliefs.

Mr BANDA says the YOUTH NETWORKING AND COUNSELLING would like to improve youth access to reproductive health information through the project, which receives funding from the SIMAVI group of NETHERLANDS.

He says the major aim is to raise awareness on Sexual Reproductive Health Rights among young people, as well as strengthen child protection system by engaging key stakeholders.

MBC News says Village Headman MKUMBA has commended the initiative, saying it will help communities come up with holistic measures for the safety of young children.

He says it is also the duty of local leaders to ensure young people in their areas know their Sexual Reproductive Health Rights, to reduce early and unplanned pregnancies – including child marriages.

Two victims of child marriages (Pic. Human Rights Watch) The 14-year-old girl in the picture is holding her baby at her sister’s home in Kanduku Village in Mwanza District of Malawi. She married in September 2013, but her husband chased her away. Her 15-year-old sister, in the background, married when she was 12. Both sisters said they married to escape poverty. Source: Human Rights Watch 2014

Given the gravity of the problem, the YOUTH NETWORKING AND COUNSELLING meeting has attracted traditional and religious leaders, as well as parents and young children.

A recent report by the UNITED NATIONS says child marriages are on the increase in MCHINJI District, and the world body predicts as much as 50 percent of children in MALAWI will have been married prematurely./Sabanews/cam

WINDHOEK – An instructor with the NAMIBIA Airforce School of Airpower Studies has successfully developed and introduced a locally manufactured computer into the market.

Information Technology helps improve education (Pic. OER Africa)

NBC News says the National Assembly has welcomed this FIRST ever locally assembled machine built on what is known as the Psychology Experiment Building Language, PEBL.

Designers say PEBL is a free psychology software for creating experiments that allows you to design your own experiments or use ready-made ones, and lets you exchange experiments freely without license or charge.

NBC News says VINCENT VAN WYK, a Chief Instructor at the NAMIBIAN Air Force School of Air-power Studies, started the PEBL project in 2015 and released it onto the local market ONE year later.

It says ruling SWAPO Parliamentarian PENDUKENI IIVULA-ITHANA has presented the computer in the National Assembly, describing it as a high tech central processing unit developed for all IT-related needs.

The national broadcaster also says the low-cost high tech computer will help ensure all NAMIBIAN children have access to ICT facilities, even in rural communities.

It says Information and Communication Technology Minister STANLEY SIMAATA has called on government departments to use the locally manufactured computer in their executive services.

He says the Public Procurement Act demands special treatment of domestic products, but some State institutions still import tools that are available locally.

Prime Minister SAARA KUUGONGELWA-AMADHILA has also added her voice to the call for use of locally made products.

She says the government has a policy that specifically directs the support to such goods, while developing their capacity to market them regionally and internationally.

The authorities in NAMIBIA have now developed a national plan to open a processing plant next year to enable local production of the PEBL based computer./Sabanews/cam

JOHANNESBURG – The SADC Region continues to run program aimed to bring awareness about malaria, ONE of the biggest killer disease in Sub-SAHARAN AFRICA.

The female mosquito, a silent killer (Image Agencies)

The 16-member economic bloc commemorates the SADC Malaria Day on SIX NOVEMBER each year in a bid to reduce infections by the life-threatening disease.

SABC News says the SADC Malaria Day, according to the SOUTH AFRICAN Government website, aims to mobilise communities to take part in anti-malaria campaign programs.

The authorities expect the activities to help people recognise signs and symptoms of malaria, provide more home-based treatment, or seek treatment when ill, and use personal protective measure.

The WHO says malaria is a life-threatening illness caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected female mosquitoes.

It says the about THREE-POINT-TWO-BILLION, almost HALF the world population, are at risk of malaria.

Young children, pregnant women, and non-immune travellers from malaria-free areas are particularly vulnerable to the disease when they become infected.

However, malaria is preventable and curable, and increased efforts are dramatically reducing the malaria burden in many places.

The World Health Organisation says Sub-SAHARAN AFRICA carries a high share of the global malaria burden; and in 2015, the region recorded 89 percent of malaria cases and 91 percent of malaria deaths./Sabanews/cam

Defence Lawyer BERNARD CHIDZIVA has told the High Court Judge he last saw his client before the general elections held on 30 JULY this year.

The Anti-Corruption Commission arrested Mr GANDAWA last year together with ZIMBABWE Manpower Development Fund, ZIMDEF Principal Finance Director NICHOLAS MAPUTE.

The authorities accuse the TWO men of stealing more than 400-THOUSAND US dollars from the parastatal, in a case that also involves former Higher Education Minister JONATHAN MOYO.

Jonathan Moyo (Pic. Agencies)

Scores of former as well as current ministers and officials have reportedly milked the ZIMBABWEAN economy dry under the watch of the past government, which was toppled by military-backed mass protests last NOVEMBER./Sabanews/cam